Drove the Audi R8

OMFG! This is a truly AMAZING car! If you have any chance at all to get some seat time, sell whatever body part is required to get the keys (or fob thinggy....).

The NA V8 is truly an amazing piece of work. The car is really, really capable, yet quite eazy to drive fast. I took it around a rather short street loop near Laguna Seca. For something of supercar performance, it is really streetable. It takes crappy roads quite well. When on the track at Laguna, it is so freakin easy to drive fast, the engine note is unbelievable, and with the AWD, you just point it where you want it to go and hit the gas.

The only downside (Well two of them, really) was I didn't get more seat time around the track to really learn it's performance envelope, and they didn't let me keep the car.

I was at a media event where we got to drive all sorts of cars, and for almost everyone there, this was the hands down favorite to drive. I liked it tons more than the Porsche Carrera 4s. Not even close.

Wow, that is unbelievable..the markups now a days are ridiculous. Local BMW dealerships in Southern Cali. are 15k plus

.
One SOC BMW Dealer had the first shipment of 08 M3's, loaded of course, at $25k PAC over MSRP. That was over $90k + T&L = over $100k OTD.

Maybe their philosophy is "if some have too much money, we may as well liberate some of it from them" . . . .

Best.

btw - 1 of the parts guys at this same "dealership" (other parts guy seems to be a straight shooter) quoted me $46+ for a cig lighter. Matrix pricing rip . . . . I went independent auto supply & got it for well less than 1/2 that - new BMW part too.

BMW ought to publish all their parts MSRP's (on line by part number) like they publish MSRP's in their accessory catalogs - I realize that dealers can charge what they want - but it might help keep some of these folks "honest."

Pricing rip-offs by the dealer reflect badly on the manufacturer too (as well as the dealer) & long-term does not facilitate happy customers, repeat business or referals . . . .

I was at a media event where we got to drive all sorts of cars, and for almost everyone there, this was the hands down favorite to drive.

i NEED to be on this event's invite list!!!! any idea if they're coming to houston? i saw (drooled) over the r8 @ the auto show here. it was beautimous! apparently, it drives as beautifully as it looks. if ironman drives it, it's gotta be cool!

i NEED to be on this event's invite list!!!! any idea if they're coming to houston? i saw (drooled) over the r8 @ the auto show here. it was beautimous! apparently, it drives as beautifully as it looks. if ironman drives it, it's gotta be cool!

then you're on the invite list. If not you're out of luck. It's for all the regional auto writers to come out and get a taste of what's coming....

Just to make you even more jelous, here's the list of cars I drove....

but overall, I was happy! My review of the Challenger is a lot like what others are saying. surprisingly competent, very large, bit boring with the auto. I'd like to flog a manual convertable, but with gas what it is, it begs for a twin turbo 6! heresy, I know...

The biggest surprises for me for the day were

The quality of the Audi V8. I think it's got more torque than the BMW through the midrange. Sounds sweet too.

How sweet the XKR was on the track. A buddy, thought another car was the best all-arounder, and I told him to drive the Jag. he was gonna skip it but he's glad he didn't cause it took top honors!

The SL550 is an amazing car. Only thing that suck are the cup holders (what can I say, I had a bottle of water for the drive back to the hotel and it was nice with the top down, but the bottle blocks some of the media screen.)

The Bentley GT Speed is amazing in terms of quality, but you flog it and it's true charecter stands out... Like me it's overweight, but it still will perform if asked. I didn't really like it.

The Hyundai is shockingly good for it's segment.

All the new "convinience start" stuff with dongles and start buttons are a royal PITA to figure out first time through. They all work a bit different and I ended up sitting in the Audi A5 for an embarrasingly long time before I figured out the start button doesn't work if you have the dongle in the slot of the dash!

The torque curve of the Porsche C4S is amazing.

The extra 3" of wheelbase in the Clubman makes a world of difference in the autoX.

Overall, it was a great couple of days and I can't wait till next year. Last year my second daughter came a week early, and I had to cancle at the last minute. BMW is a good supporter, they had a 135, 128 cabrio, a couple of M3s, the new X6 (two of them) and some other metal I'm sure. Good of them to do that. I drove the M3 sedan for 45 minutes on the street. Only thing I didn't like was how the gas gauge needle moves when you let the engine live at the upper RPM range!

Hey Cat...maybe we can be official reporters for the newsletter...suppose that would qualify?

And depending on the newsletter, it may or may not qualify you. The web site is www.waj.org. Get in touch with some of the executives there. Dues are cheap, and if you're in the SF bay area, you get to attend a lot of neat things. Bob Lutz talked at on of the meetings, and Bob Sinclair (ran Volvo and Saab at various times in his carreer) just spoke. He'd been working in autos from 59 to 91. In september, the CEO of crysler (I think) is speaking. That one will be interesting, and in October there's an alternative fuels day where you get to take a bunch of cars for short spins. There were some plug in hybrid conversions, some Audi diesels, a few Mercedes/Chrysler diesels, and a Honda hydrogen car. Tesla backed out (big bummer).

It's a good crew, and the Media Days ride and drive is our "icing on the cake" and the really big event of the year.....

Matt

ps, I qualify by writing as Technical Editor of MC Squared Magazine, that focuses on Minis, and I've done one article for LeftLaneNews....

the R8 is mid/rear engine. It's got a bit meatier mid range torque. It's got AWD. I drove both the R8 and the M3, and the R8 is a better ride for performance. But no back seat or trunk to speak of. They are very, very different cars. Go drive one and there's no denying that it's a very very good car.

After driving the R8, I was thinking OMFG!!!!!! I wasn't left with the same impression after the M3. That's not to say that the M3 was bad, it's not. It's very, very good. but it didn't leave me with the same impression.

Matt

ps, I know that the above is almost sacraligeous here in BMW land. But WTF, I just call them as I see them.

I have no doubt it is more impressive. It's supposed to be a supercar, what with its AWD and midengine. I'm just questioning whether it is $55,000 more car. I think we both know the answer to that question.

the answer is "Sh*t YES!" look at the wait times and dealer mark-ups for the R8.

Cars share something with wine. You get a huge improvement going from 2 buck chuck to a 10 dollar bottle of something good. But to get the best, you have to pay lots, lots more. Pricing at the extreme is very, very non-linear.

Really, do yourself a favor and drive one if you can.

Matt

ps, I didn't get to drive the GT-R. It was there just for looks and to sit in. But at it's price point it seems to be redefining the performance per $ equation.

Also, I wonder what owners of the Meclaren or the Veyron would think of the linear pricing arguement. Heck, with a Veyron, you could get an M3, and 3 or so F430s! So, does that mean it's not worth the difference?